Owner making strides, keeps a positive attitude about the future

Sam Green/Cortez Journal
Owner of Love On A Hanger Tiffani Waters poses outside her newly remodeled building on Main Street.

Tiffani Waters is in her second year as a small business owner. She didn't have any prior retail experience and never owned a business before.

At 23 years old, the young entrepreneur is still relatively new to the game, but from the look of her store, Love on a Hanger, one would never know it.

Waters, a 2010 Fort Lewis College graduate with a degree in accounting and finance, knew there were risks in opening a women's boutique. Specialty stores in Cortez don't always make it. It helped that the economy was slowly emerging from a recession, but people are still coddling their paychecks.

Waters knew there was a risk. She also knew that a women's boutique in Cortez had a chance.

"Everyone has to shop at some point or another and it seemed like people were having to travel out of town to do that," Waters said. "There is always a risk with opening a business no matter when you do it but I saw a need for it."

Waters took a three-month long business-planning course at the Small Business Development Center. Her plan in the course was awarded second place for overall business strategy. That gave Waters the incentive and confidence to move forward with the idea.

When the location, 34 E. Main St., came available, Waters knew she had to jump on it. In August 2011, she opened her store. For the first few months, there was a constant stream of customers. Waters was unsure there had even been a recession with the buzz her shop created. The positive response only reassured her that she was on the right path.

"Opening during a hard time was only a testament to my business doing well," Waters said proudly. "If I can make it through difficult times, I can make it through good times."

Cortez now has two other women's clothing stores in downtown. Waters is happy someone followed in her footsteps saying the competition is friendly.

"I think it's great they're here too," she said. "We can collaborate on sales and send customers to one another when we don't have what they are looking for."

Every person that walks in the door of Love on a Hanger is greeted by Waters with a big smile and a kind hello, adhering to her pleasing personality.

Her storefront has recently been updated to give it a more modern look, and she said that 2013 is getting off to a good start. Though the looming possibility of future financial crisis stalks communities around the country, Waters sees no point in worrying.

"At this point it is all just speculation," she said. "Things can always be worse. It can go either way. I can't really worry about it because there's not much you can do. You just have to work with it. It will drive you crazy if you do (worry)."

Waters keeps a positive attitude when it comes to looking at the future. Right now she is focused on her sales so that one day she can hire employees. At the moment, she has help from a few employees who fill in when she cannot be at the store - but for the most part, she has a one-woman operation.

Clean and organized, with various shades of pink and black décor give Love on a Hanger a Parisian-like atmosphere. The styles are fashionable and chic, offering women variety that is close to home.

"The store changes all the time," Waters said. "I get new products in every day so the store never looks the same. Every day is different from the one before. That's what is fun about the job."

And that helps keep her on her toes. The excitement of a new day and new possibilities is all she looks forward to. Recession, economical failure and such, don't interest Waters. Why should they?

Susie's Hallmark remains a friendly face in community

For more than 70 years Hallmark has built a reputation of being a warm and welcoming store to purchase personal cards and gifts. Susan and Joe Keck, owner's of Susie's Hallmark in downtown Cortez, have successfully operated and maintained their store for nearly 20 years.

Even during the last decade, as Hallmark Gold Crown stores have closed all over the country, the Keck's have made Susie's Hallmark a community gem.

"Larger cities with Hallmark stores don't have that local connection," Susan said. "I've been going to Hallmark stores since I was 13. I would go with a friend and we would eat lollipops, read cards and laugh. I hope that's the kind of legacy we have here."

An average of five Hallmark stores close every year. Hallmark, which had 5,000 stores nationwide in 2000, are now down to less than 2,000. In October 2012 in Kansas City, Mo., where the company's history began, Hallmark closed their manufacturing plant that produced more than a third of its greeting cards, leaving at least 300 people jobless.

The growing popularity of eCards, online personalization and printing sites, and big box stores offering less expensive greeting cards, has proved detrimental for the Hallmark brand.

"I sell an awful lot of cards," she said. "Electronic cards are nice as a remembrance but I think Hallmark is for people looking for that keepsake card. One you can hold in your hand and keep in your drawer."

The Keck's see electronic cards as a phase. Susan thinks the traditional gift of card giving will swing back around eventually as people search for a more personal connection. Their customer demographics are that of an older crowd so Susan is interested in seeing how Internet greetings will play out long-term.

But she is not worried about her store closing. Customers always come in as the holidays change looking for that special gift. The only time it seems she has a long dry spell is in the summer.

"We have such great local support because we are a gold crown store, so there's a loyalty program that rewards our customers," Susan explained. "We fill a niche, a need in Cortez, not just for specialty gifts, but we provide a warm, welcoming place where people can feel connected."

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